Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Wakefield, VA

April 19, 1998New Kent County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Apr 19, 1998, 8:09 PM EDT for New Kent County, Virginia. It was in force for 21 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Apr 19, 1998, 8:09 PM EDT (00:09 UTC)
Expired: Apr 19, 1998, 8:30 PM EDT
In force: 21 min
Issued by: NWS Wakefield, VA
Area: Whole counties

County New Kent County, VA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 19, 8:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Providence Forge, VA	Several trees down on Route 155.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 19, 3:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 148 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 172 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -99 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 637 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 213 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 169 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KAKQ 200008 RRA
TORAKQ
VAC127-200030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
809 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD VA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NEW KENT COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 830 PM EDT

* AT 808 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTH OF NEW KENT MOVING EAST NORTHEAST
  AT 45 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
    BARHAMSVILLE                        BY 815 PM EDT

IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS... SEEK SAFETY IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
AWAY FROM WINDOWS. A BASEMENT OFFERS THE BEST PROTECTION

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATIONX.  ACT QUICKLY!  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wakefield, VA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 19, 8:04 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Charles City	31 min
Apr 19, 8:57 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Gloucester, Middlesex	18 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.